NAMES IN THE NEWS : Pilot Thanks Crewmembers Who Hung On to Him for Dear Life

A British Airways pilot sucked out of his jetliner when a windshield blew out thanked fellow crewmembers today for clinging to his legs and getting him back alive.

“They were magnificent. If it was not for them, I would not be here now,” said Capt. Timothy Lancaster, whose bruised face testified to his terrifying ordeal 23,000 feet over southern England on Sunday.

“I remember the buffeting of the wind,” Lancaster recounted, but he said he was unconscious for part of the time and did not remember being in any pain while the BAC-111 jetliner made its 15-minute descent.

Asked if he thought he was going to die, the 41-year-old pilot said: “It did cross my mind for a moment or two.”

Lancaster was nearly naked. His uniform had been torn off and he was bleeding from being repeatedly slammed against the plane.

Lancaster today was suffering from shock, a fractured elbow, wrist and thumb, as well as frostbite in one hand. A British Airways spokesman said today he was in satisfactory condition in Southampton Hospital, was able to sit up in bed and visit with his wife, Margaret.

A British Airways spokesman, speaking anonymously in keeping with British custom, said today all the airline’s BAC-111s had been inspected after the accident and found to be safe.